


Hearts and Chains

by SophieGoose



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Hades (Video Game 2018) Spoilers, M/M, Zagreus x Sisyphus, hades spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 07:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28347762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieGoose/pseuds/SophieGoose
Summary: [Crack, Angst] Amongst the winding corridors of Tartarus, a romance has bloomed between two unlikely souls: a man chained and bound forever to his punishment for escaping Death itself, and a god seeking to escape the Underworld and all therein forever. When the duo and their budding romance is discovered by one of the Furies, and both their love and their desires for the path of their lives clash, how will these two lovebirds reconcile? Especially when one is in chains of the literal variety, and the other is chained to his destiny on the surface high above?
Relationships: Sisyphus & Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Kudos: 4





	Hearts and Chains

**Author's Note:**

> [Content warning: allusions to alcohol, death, blood, and abuse] 
> 
> [Ship warning: contains Zagreus x Sisyphus]
> 
> ((Little drabble I whipped up for a couple I like in the game Hades. Haven't beaten it yet, so please no spoilers in the comments, and apologies for any inaccuracies/missing lore beats: haven't maxed out Sisyphus' friendship meter yet but goddammit that's not gonna stop me from writing some short crack/angst in the meantime. Hope y'all enjoy.))

Gliding through the halls of Tartarus, Megaera already knew she'd have more work to do today than she'd planned.

Usually, by the time she got here, she would hear the distant sound of stone grinding on stone, of stuttering footfalls, and grunts of exertion and pain echoing through the rooms.

That or the sound of crashing, rolling, an awful earth-shaking shuddering, followed by the resounding THUD of a mass of multi-ton stone rolling to a stop at the base of Tartarus' winding caverns.

She heard neither as she moved closer and closer, and so, needless to say, Sisyphus was in for some extra lashes today. THAT, in turn, meant Megaera was likely going to be late for her next assignment, then late for the next and the next, all leading up to her having less time to relax in the lounge after she was done with her work for the day.

"Ughh."

She wasn't mad about the pile of work ahead of her, naturally. She enjoyed her work immensely, as did all of her sisters...but unlike them she enjoyed her time AWAY from her obligations, as well.

Needless to say, Sisyphus would bear some of the brunt of her annoyance in the coming moments, and, as she entered the cursed mortal's chamber, she saw she would indeed be justified in doing so.

That damn boulder hadn't been moved an INCH. It was right in the place it had been when she had threatened him the day prior, stuck in the same rut it had been when last she saw him.

Cold rage mixed with annoyance in her mind: of course, she would be well-justified now in taking out some of her rage on him, and would likely get commendation for it from Lord Hades, but at the same time she did not relish the idea of spending any more time here than she needed to, nor the additional effort it would take to exact such extra punishment when she could be doing something more productive.

As she approached, she noticed another oddity as well, another delay in her work that was quickly starting to actually, truly anger her: the man was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't standing at attention with his boulder as ordained by her and the Master of the Underworld himself. The boulder stood casually in place, as if to defy them both.

His shackle chains were present, however, so there had been no unexpected breakout, thankfully, the Fury's keen eyes noting how said chains were limp on the ground, winding around to behind the boulder, jittering and rattling ever so slightly...

Ah, so he was HIDING, then?

Hiding, cowering from her sight?

She listened closely, the sound of the lightly rattling chains somewhat masking the noise but she could, for a moment hear a stifled, quiet voice, whispering something amid the metallic din:

"I-I think she's here-"

"Sisyphus" she growled, lingering shades in the area floating well away from the Fury's wrath as she practically glowed with barely restrained malice, the full force of her power seeming to rattle the room as she made her demand, voice icy cold with barely-restrained anger:

"You have two seconds to face me, or I'll add another two THOUSAND lashes today. Show yourself, and let's be done with this."

The voice that called out from behind the stone was indeed that of the prisoner, but it arrived to her shaky, panicked, and almost flustered as he stammered:

"...I, um...m-my apologies Madam, but I'm rather indisposed and there may be a delay-"

"I said now, Sisyphus."

"...afr-fraid I can't do that Madam, a-at l-least not immediately, I'm-"

The sound of Megaera's whip cracking, her weapon now primed to strike cut the mortal off, the Fury quickly stomping around the side of the boulder, Sisyphus' voice joining with another now as both cried out:

"W-Wait, I'll get up, I'll-"

"Meg, wait a minute here-"

Another whip crack, drowning out the noise, Megaera failing to recognize the second voice just yet, blinded by annoyance and quickly elapsing time, though it was familiar to her...not that it mattered much, in the end.

She beyond the point of caring just who or what Sisyphus was convening with, and true to the title of Fury, she was furious. She had a job to do, as did Sisyphus, and when he failed in his work it made more work for her, and she was beyond her limit for patience. A schedule was a schedule, and a job was a job, and now he and whoever he was hiding with behind his boulder would suffer the consequences, be they mortal, shade, monster or god.

Finally striding behind the looming stone, she pulled her whip back, bright crimson eyes burning with zeal for her work and righteous anger, ready to strike...

Only to find Sisyphus, laying on his back, the Prince of the Underworld casually splayed on top of him, hair tousled, both men's tunics askew, the two clearly having been interrupted whilst sharing in an embrace and some (passionate) necking.

The rest of the scene was just as lurid: a scattering of bottles of nectar and ambrosia was around them, pomegranates laying half eaten, a great many other niceties strewn about, Zagreus' crown tossed aside, his hands softly intertwined with Sisyphus', the mortal's likewise.

After a long moment of dreadful silence, the Fury staring on in something akin to horror, the two men broke the silence, practically scrambling over eachother with their words as they grasped for explanations to the situation:

"I, um, m-my apologies Madam, I didn't plan on this diversion from my work today, it was a surprise and-"

"Listen, Meg, I don't want to get in the way of your work and all, but-"

"...I promise, I'll put in twice the effort the next few days, and y-you're more than obliged to give as many lashes as you see fit, I promise I'll get back to work and-"

"...I apologize that you had to stumble across this, must be awful-"

"Silence, both of you."

The sudden, chill voice of the Fury made both men clam up, both frozen in place in fear and embarrassment as the Fury slowly leaned down, moving closer to them, and then away as she grabbed a bottle of ambrosia.

Zagreus and Sisyphus watched as the Fury casually downed it in a single swig, tossed the bottle aside, and in a whorl of darkness...

Was gone.

~~~

All present were gossiping about her, but Megaera didn't care.

Slamming her fist onto the lounge counter again, she demanded another bottle, and another bottle was given, the staff not sure what more to fear: being caught selling contraband, or being on the receiving end of a Fury's whip.

Still, the gathering crowd of shades stayed where they were, watching with silent awe and fear. It was enough of an oddity that Megaera had stepped away from her all-important work, however briefly, to come back to the lounge and enjoy a drink or two, quite uncharacteristic of her...but it was another that she was, in broad torchlight, drinking back so much nectar. It was not often the denizens of the grand House of Hades saw a Fury so emotionally incapacitated, so reticent to return to her already busy work, let alone CLEARLY attempting to become intoxicated.

When asked why she was suddenly so morose, so thirsty for the drink of the gods, a substance that was essentially contraband in the maze-like halls of the Underworld, she merely snapped, groaned, rubbed her temples, and/or all of the above, praying to Dionysus that the inebriation would kick in soon.

She did not, in any way shape or form, get paid enough to deal with this kind of nonsense.

~~~

Zagreus tucked away the last of the meal, a low, pinkish blush on his face, even well after Meg's departure.

Say what one will of his crimson, mortal-like blood, it at least made it easier to see when he was flustered, something that didn't come easily to the ever-dying, ever-fighting, ever-cool-and-collected Prince.

"Are you well, Prince Z?" Sisyphus offered, helping Zagreus to put away what remained of the nectar bottles, chains rattling behind him as he finally moved out from behind the boulder, an object as common to his life as earth under his feet and air in his lungs.

"Not really, I suppose," Zagreus offered, a look of annoyance on his face, fear wrinkling his brow, "I did not expect...THAT to happen, of all things."

"Me neither," Sisyphus stated, shaking his head, "usually she's off to handle someone else on her rounds by this time. Guess her schedule must be off."

"Apparently," Zagreus replied dryly, running his fingers through his hair, a low sigh emerging from him as continued, "I'm just worried news will get out, you know?"

Zagreus hoisted the basket he'd brought the food and drink in over his shoulder, letting out a small grunt, concluding:

"I mean, what would Father say? What would he do? I can take everyone else teasing me, but he has the authority to make things even worse for you. I don't think I could live with that."

"Oh, pish-posh," offered Sisyphus, approaching the Prince, resting his callused hands, worn with centuries of endless, painful toil, upon Zagreus' immortal, ever-healing shoulders.

The two came from different planes, different forms of existence: one eternal, of godly blood, trapped in ever-cycling life and death, the other a mortal who had long since perished, a man locked away, left to toil and torment for the rest of eternity, never to again see a breath of life.

And yet here, amidst the twisted, ever-shifting halls of Tartarus, echoing with the wails of tortured shades and fallen gods of yore, the two had, indeed, fallen in love.

Love that Sisyphus had not expected to bloom, but treasured with every part of his being.

And love that Zagreus knew was not outright forbidden, but which threw a wrench in the plan of many powerful Underworld forces...

Including his own.

Sisyphus continued, jovial as ever:

"There's not much worse the Lord of the House can do to me, dear Prince. He won't destroy me, that'd be an end to my punishment after all, and even if he were to add 3,000,000 more steps to my treks with old Bouldy and two more Furies to whip at my back as I went, I wouldn't mind much."

The mortal leaned in, planting a gentle kiss to Zagreus' neck, stating optimistically into his ear:

"I'd still get to see you at the bottom of every rut, after all."

Zagreus stood in silence for a moment, Sisyphus at his back, crimson and emerald eyes locked on the expanse of Tartarus ahead.

He thought of the winding chambers therein.

He thought of the dismembered Titans, the acrid, maze-like halls built over their bones and blood, foundation for the horrors above.

He thought of Asphodel, with its wicked Bloodless and the boiling banks of the River Phlegathon.

He thought of the battle-hungry souls of Elysium, of Asterius' blood-soaked axe and Theseus' swift spear.

He thought of his father's Wrath, and the infinities which it contained, how it would never dry up, not even after centuries.

Reaching up, the Prince rested his hands atop Sisyphus' on his shoulders, knitting his fingers with his, turning his head back, glancing into Sisyphus' dark irises with his own verdant green and cursed crimson ones, speaking candidly, fear recognizable beneath his calm, cool façade.

"I'm worried, Sisyphus. I worried what will happen to you."

It wasn't like Zagreus to share such things so honestly: he had learned well from years living in his father's House to hide his vulnerabilities, to veil his worries and concerns beneath layer after layer of snark, sarcasm, and bravado. It had kept him safer, but here, hands intertwined with his lover's, he could think of nothing more than the truth.

"I can't leave you here, you know."

Sisyphus' fingers tightened around his.

"Don't say that, your Majesty: you know as well as I that it's hard enough to get to the surface without me at your heels."

"What would I do, then?" Zagreus mourned, emotion rising in his voice, fingers gripping tighter, putting pressure onto his own shoulders as he continued, "I'll be living up there, free, but you-"

"But I'll be where I've been longer than anywhere else in my life, Zag."

"You can't be serious," the god groaned, "that doesn't make it RIGHT Sisyphus. You've well suffered for what you've done and more. Father is just rubbing salt in the wound because he CAN. That's not right..."

He leaned back, resting his head underneath Sisyphus', planting a kiss to the underside of his jaw, two-tone eyes filled with sorrow.

"...and you shouldn't have to deal with it, nor should you accept it so readily."

He heard Sisyphus sigh, feeling the mortal pull his hands away, wrapping his arms, ethereal like a shade's, yet heavy with the weight of time and toil, around him, holding Zagreus close as he sighed, replying:

"Can't dissuade you, can I Zag?"

"Not in a million years."

"Guess I'll just have to try for two million, then."

The two shared in a moment of solemn silence, locked in eachother's embrace as they both closed their eyes, one mourning for a future without the other, the other mourning for a future where his beloved may never reach the place where he belonged, where he'd be happy and away from torment, all on his account.

Zagreus was the first to break the silence:

"I'll get you out of here. I swear it."

"I pray you will, Prince, but if it's against the Fates design, know that I want just one thing for you..."

A gentle kiss atop the god's head, followed by a sweet nuzzle.

"Your happiness. In equal measure and more than that which you give me."

With that, and knowing it would not be long before the Sisyphus needed to return to his toil and punishment, the two bid one another adieu.

Far above, a cold breeze blew against the sealed gates of the Underworld, and not too far below, its dread Master conspired against his own blood, day in and day out.

Both Zagreus and Sisyphus knew well the sting of eternal, painful toil, but at the very least, when their paths crossed there was, amongst the horror and madness of a world turned to suffering, sorrow, and malicious control, a moment of bliss, of comfort, of acceptance, of hope, and above all other things...

Love.


End file.
